[NIFL-FAMILY:1862] RE: Championing Family Literacy to LEA's

From: Bonnie Freeman (bfreeman@famlit.org)
Date: Wed Jun 16 2004 - 13:43:47 EDT


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From: "Bonnie Freeman" <bfreeman@famlit.org>
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Subject: [NIFL-FAMILY:1862] RE: Championing Family Literacy to LEA's
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Jeri,
What a great way to rally those 30,000 families about their successes.
Let's ask them to write rallying slogans and then combine programs'
evaluation data with the phrases to catch the attention of local decision
makers.  There are many funding streams to support family literacy services.


Bonnie
Bonnie Lash Freeman
Director - Training/Special Projects
National Center for Family Literacy
325 W Main St Suite 300
Louisville, KY 40202
502 584 1133 ext 115
bfreeman@famlit.org



-----Original Message-----
From: nifl-family@nifl.gov [mailto:nifl-family@nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Jeri
Levesque
Sent: Tuesday, June 15, 2004 2:06 PM
To: Multiple recipients of list
Subject: [NIFL-FAMILY:1861] Championing Family Literacy to LEA's


Dear List Members:

Many of of us have worked very hard during the past two years to 
advocate for family literacy in order to leverage federal Even Start 
funding. Though we are a resilient group, the administration's tepid 
support for family literacy has taken it's toll. The attitude of many 
dedicated practitioners seems to be apocalyptic, "not if they defund 
Even Start, but when they defund Even Start it will be the death of 
family literacy." To counter this pessimism, the Family Literacy 
Alliance and NCFL enthusiastically focused on strategies to highlight 
the notion of advocacy. We were all charged to become front-line 
champions of family literacy.  Perhaps it is time to heed the words of 
Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, "there's no place like home" i.e., local 
education agencies' funding streams. It is very disheartening to see 
local Even Start programs struggle to secure and maintain support from 
their local school school districts all the while they are preparing 
preschool children at-risk and educating their parents who "fell through 
the cracks." Maybe it's time to champion family literacy as a key 
component of local school districts' efforts to make adequate yearly 
progress. That seems to be the litmus test for valuing any education 
program in the era of NCLB.

Does your program have a marketing plan?  Do you have a slogan or "theme 
song" that captures the interest of local educators? Could we combine 
our collective imaginations and come up with a simple message that 
appeals to School Boards? The environmental protection campaign began 
with a simple mantra, "think global act local."  The current federal 
educational reform concentrates on the progress of a single child.  
Forest fires are prevented by the thoughtful actions of a mythical bear 
and you.  Got milk?

Could we begin exchanging success stories from the field about local 
programs that successfully bonded with their local school district?  
What was the  base message that captured the fiscal commitment of your 
Board of Education, Superintendent or building principal?   More than 
32,000 Even Start families are enrolled in LEA's, what is their impact 
on school success?

Best,

Jeri Levesque, Ed.D.
Evaluation Coordinator, Missouri Even Start



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